An easy and moist Banana Bread Recipe that is loaded with bananas, tangy-sweet raisins, and toasted walnuts. This is one of our favorite overripe banana recipes with hundreds of 5-star reviews.
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Banana Nut Bread Recipe:
This is my husband’s recipe which he has perfected over the years and he is known for his Banana Bread. He makes it frequently and it always disappears fast! It is simple to make and our favorite way to use up overripe bananas so they never go to waste. It’s super moist and makes a great breakfast on-the-go. We even created Banana Muffins from this recipe.
This loaf stays moist for days and also makes for a thoughtful and delicious gift idea for the holidays (I’ll take banana bread over fruit cake any day).
Banana Bread Video Tutorial:
Watch Natasha make this moist banana bread. You will be surprised at how easy it is. We will never stop loving this recipe. Now go forth and bake!
Ingredients for Banana Bread:
This is everything you need to make the best banana bread: flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, vanilla extract, softened butter, eggs and of course very ripe bananas. Adding walnuts and raisins is optional but adds great taste and texture, turning it into a banana nut bread.
Can I Omit Walnuts and Raisins?
YES! The recipe will still work if raisins and walnuts are omitted. We make it nut-free all the time due to a walnut allergy in the family. You will still have the softest, super moist and scrumptious loaf. You can also replace them with some chocolate to make Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.
How to Ripen Bananas:
- Quick Oven Method: If your bananas are a little green and you want them to ripen quicker, place them on a baking sheet and bake at 250˚F for 15 to 20 minutes depending on the initial ripeness of the bananas.
- 24 Hour Counter Method: If you are willing to wait 1 day, you can place the bunch of bananas (without separating them) in a paper bag, cover and leave at room temperature. Bananas emit ethylene which causes ripening. Adding an apple to the bag will speed up the process.
Can I Freeze Overripe Bananas?
If you have overripe bananas and aren’t ready to bake with them, DO NOT throw them away!
How to Freeze Bananas: place them un-peeled in a freezer-safe bag, remove any excess air and freeze up to 3 months. You can use thawed bananas for banana bread. You can also freeze them peeled and cut into pieces for easier use in smoothies. P.S. You can also freeze a whole banana bread with the same method!
How to Make Banana Bread:
This is the easiest banana bread recipe. We mix it in a stand mixer because it’s easy, but you can use an electric hand mixer and can even make it work with a hand whisk. There is no fancy equipment required. Watch the video tutorial below and you will be a pro in no time!
- In the mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
- Mix in mashed bananas and eggs.
- Whisk together dry ingredients: flour, salt, and baking soda and add to batter.
- Stir in vanilla, walnuts, and raisins, transfer to prepared loaf pan and bake.
Substitutions for a Healthy Banana Bread:
- My sister Anna made this into a honey banana bread; replacing sugar with honey.
- Use organic whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour.
- Replace 1 Tbsp of flour with 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed.
- Reduce sugar to 1/2 cup when using very ripe bananas; they add plenty of sweetness
Love Sweet Breads? Try these Popular Bread Recipes:
We love sweetbreads because they are easy to make and are such a treat, especially when you top them with Honey Butter! Don’t miss these reader favorites:
- Apple Bread – a pull-apart moist apple bread
- Pumpkin Bread – so easy and we love it year-round
- Banana Chocolate Chip Bread always disappears fast
- Persimmon Bread – great way to use ripe persimmon
Moist Banana Bread Recipe

Ingredients
- 3 very ripe bananas, (medium/large)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, (8 Tbsp) at room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup walnuts
- ½ cup raisins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a bread loaf pan (9.25 long x 5.25 wide x 2.75 deep). Lightly roast walnuts on a skillet, continuously stirring so they won’t burn. Coarsely chop and cool to room temperature.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together 8 Tbsp softened butter and 3/4 cup sugar (or honey if using honey).
- Mash bananas with a fork until the consistency of chunky applesauce and add them to the batter along with 2 eggs, mixing until blended.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together: 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 tsp of baking soda and 1/2 tsp of salt then add to batter.
- Add 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and mix in chopped walnuts and raisins. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake at 350˚F for 55-60 min or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let banana bread rest for 10 min before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
This banana bread recipe was first published in 2009; one of the very first recipes on our blog! It has been a reader and family favorite ever since.
Hi Natasha
Can I ask please Banana bread looks lovely just going to make it can you confirm your oven setting of 180 is that fan assist
Thankyou
Hi Susan, we use a conventional electric oven. If using a convection oven, you will need to make some adjustments.
I cooked in my convection oven at 325° for 55 min… (fan off)
It came out perfect
This might help. Hopefully 🙂
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/conversion-guides
Super yummy I love ur banana bread recipe
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Have you ever heard of a glaze you can make to put on bread ? Know a Lady that does but her recipe is private.
Hi Karen, I have several glazes that are very good. Check out our Pumpkin pull-apart bread glaze and also our Apple Bread glaze.
Hello, I am a fan and today I am inclined to leave a comment. I made this recipe today and turned out highly moist and delicious. I altered some ingredients based on what I had on hand, namely swapped out raisins w dried cranberries, walnut with pecan and lastly brown sugar instead of honey or granulated white sugar. It turned out better than expected! Please don’t stop sharing your recipes and teachniques!
Thank you for this thoughtful review, Mariya! I’m so happy you enjoyed that.
The best banana bread recipe I tried. Since finding it, I do not even look for other. I typically add dry cherries and raisins.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Danka!
Banana bread perfection!! Thank you Natasha!!
You’re Welcome, Erna! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This recipe was so easy to follow and it is just wonderful, I watch you on facebook and love your recipes, it’s basically everything you have in the pantry. Keep on tapping.
Fern.
You’re so nice! Thank you! I’m glad you’re enjoying my videos.
I tried to make the banana bread but it came out too solid. It was not aerie . Don’t know what went wrong.
Hi Jeremiah, the bread will get denser with too much moisture. I would recommend reading our post on measuring to be sure everything was measured appropriately.
I haven’t tried to make it yet but I have bananas ready to use. If I may make a suggestion on add in’s our family used nuts and mersino cherries in our banana bread. I even use the juice in place of half of the milk. You can poke the whole cherry in to the batter after putting it in the pan or chop then and mix them into to the batter alongwiththenuts. Hope you try it. It makes it so good. Enjoy 😉
Thanks for your comments and suggestions, Rebecca. We appreciate it!
Why use unsalted butter if adding salt?
Hi Carmela, we always use unsalted butter especially in baking so we can control the amount of salt in the recipe. If using salted butter you would use less or no salt depending on how much salt is in your butter.
This is the fourth batch I’ve made for my tug boat crew and its been perfect every time. Have used brown sugar instead of white and cranberries instead of raisins. Seems like a very flexible base recipe that you can play around with a lot. One of my loaves today is made with almond flour…we’ll see how that works…Thanks
That’s so great! I’m so glad you all enjoyed it!
I added figs instead of raisins! Love your recipe!
Thanks for your good feedback, Jason. Glad you loved it!
Great recipe, taste amazing. My family favorite banana bread. Thanks.
Thank you so much, Clarissa!
Great recipe, We loved it.
One question though, why didn’t you use baking powder, only baking soda?
Hi Jim, we have always used that, but if you choose to substitute, you can, but note if it has baking soda, baking soda is 4 times stronger than baking powder.
Natasha’s, I found this Banana Bread recipe with roasted walnuts very delicious and very moist too! My friends 💘 it.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Ginger!
hi natasha!!!
i tried this recipe, and taste was superb, but mine didn’t rise, any idea why?
Hi, could you possibly be using a different size or shape pan? Also, you might check that your oven is reaching the correct temperature and make sure to put it in the oven after the oven is fully preheated. If it didn’t rise much, it could be the leavening that is expired. If leavening expires, it won’t activate to make the bread rise properly which could be a culprit. I hope that helps!
Have made this twice already. Once without nuts as I did not have any and then the second time with walnuts. Both YUMM!
Thank you for sharing the outcome with both, Jan! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Best Banana Bread recipe I’ve so far tried and the second time I’m making it. I’ve cut down on the sugar by about a third and it was still sufficiently sweet. Also omitted the raisins as I’m not a fan. For now, this will definitely be my goto recipe!
Nice to know that you still loved the recipe with less sugar on it. Thank you for sharing that with us, so helpful!
Hi Natasha, will it be okay to add cinnamon to the recipe? Or will it alter the taste?
Hi Shana, I honestly haven’t tried that yet to advise. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes.
This turned out great! I brought it to work to share and everyone loved it, and it disappeared quickly! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Hi Olga, I’m glad it was a hit! Thank you for your awesome review and feedback.
Absolutely a fabulous recipe. Very moist and delicious.
I love it! Thanks for giving this recipe a great review, Victoria.